


in my darkest of nights, you are the light which guides me home.

by sailorshadzter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Draco Malfoy & Ginny Weasley Friendship, Draco Malfoy is a Good Friend, F/M, Hinny, Possibly Unrequited Love, Suicidal Thoughts, Trigger Warnings, do people even read harry potter fanfic anymore?, harry x ginny - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:55:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22045231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailorshadzter/pseuds/sailorshadzter
Summary: a very dark story. please read at your own risk.note the archive warnings.canon divergent: what if harry potter was not the final horcrux? a dark story of friendship, love, war, and everything between.a rewrite of a story i wrote in 2014.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

The autumn air is warm, the blue sky streaked with crimson and gold as the sun begins its descent below the horizon. But as she stands there beneath the cloth canopy, among her friends and family, she rubs her arms against a sudden chill. Goosebumps raise on the back of her arms, a strange sensation rushing through her as she glances around her, smiling absently as she watches George twirl Angelina Johnson out on the dance floor. Just as quickly as the feeling comes, it's gone, leaving her to return to joy as the bride and groom sweep out into the center of the dance floor, taking the spotlight as they begin their first dance together as husband and wife. 

Bill and Fleur have gotten married this day, though some might say the middle of a war is not the time for such an event. Ginny wonders if this was not the best time, in truth, a reminder that love always wins. That love endures all, even war, even death, even fear. 

As the time passes, she joins her brothers out on the dance floor, well aware of the eyes that have been following her most of the night. Eyes that she wishes were emerald green are instead dark brown, though they belong to Harry all the same. Ginny knows it's for his own safety (as well as all the others there, she supposes) but she hates seeing another face in his place. 

She's dancing with Bill- his hands are warm on her waist as he dips her down, causing laughter to escape her smiling lips. "Be careful, Bill!" They laugh together as he rights her on her feet, their mother watching worriedly from where she sits with Auntie Muriel, who's made several comments since the wedding began that her dress was far too tight and revealing. In truth, Ginny loves this dress- Fleur, for all of her faults, has impeccable taste. The golden gown is fitting until her knees, where it flares just enough to keep her moving through every dance. Her hair, once curled beautifully, now hangs down her back in frizzy waves- proof of her hours of dancing and fun. 

It's as the last cords of the song fade out that everything changes. 

A silver ball of light suddenly appears at the center of the dance floor and a deep, booming voice bellows two single words that turn the wedding into true pandemonium. "They're coming!" At once, people are shouting, pushing, shoving, all in an attempt to get away. Ginny looks across the way to catch sight of Ron and Hermione linking arms with Harry, disguised still yet, disappearing a moment after their eyes meet. At least they will be safe. 

"Ginny!" 

She turns at the sound of her father's shout, but it's too late, she's suddenly surrounded by cloaked figures as they appear, one by one, with quick pops. Their masks might hide their faces, but the voices that speak are well known to most of them there. The guests have almost all vanished now, leaving the Weasley family there with the Order members that had attended the wedding. Tonks and Lupin are nearest to her, with Bill and her father on the other side, blocked by two of the Death Eaters that had only just arrived. "Where is Harry Potter?" One figure shouts and she knows at once who it is beneath that mask. Lucius Malfoy takes a step forward, closer to her than any of the others. "I know there is someone here who knows where he's gone..." Beneath the mask, gray eyes dart from face to face, until they come to rest upon the pretty, young redhead standing just out of his reach. "Ah... You would know..." He pulls back his mask and those stormy gray eyes narrow ever so slightly as they fall upon the face staring back at him. "Take her!" Besides.... He has his orders. 

At once, the Order springs into action, but none are close enough. Instead, they are all taken up into battle with the Death Eaters, curses flinging, jet streams of multi colored light taking down the canopy they stand beneath. 

"Ginny, run!" She hears her father's shout among the yelling, the chaos, and she sucks in a breath, knowing she had no other option. Her wand was upstairs on her nightstand, left behind, for who would have thought she would need such a thing today? With the dozens or more protection spells, with so many safety precautions taken for this day... With Order members at every table... None of them had thought this would happen. "Go!" Her father screams when he sees she still remains standing there, torn between wishing she could help and wishing she too had been whisked away to safety. She hates herself for the fear that courses through her veins. 

Turning, she grabs a fistful of her golden skirts and begins to run.

She doesn't get very far though, for someone catches her with a trip jinx, and it sends her sprawling to the ground. Scrambling up, she doesn't even make it to her knees before a tall, ominous figure in a black cloak is before her. Fenrir Greyback grins down at her with his yellowing, sharpened teeth, a terrible sort of gleam in his eyes as he reaches for her. There's no escaping his clutches and Ginny can't stop the yelp that escapes her as he tangles his hand into her long red locks. As he yanks her upwards, she can hear her mother's pitiful cries over everything else, breaking her heart as she opens her eyes to face the now approaching Lucius Malfoy. "We can make this easy, Miss Weasley," Lucius sneers as he looks down at her, smirking slightly when Greyback tightens his grip on her hair, forcing her to grimace, eyes smarting with the pain. "Tell me where Potter has gone and I will spare you and your family." Truth was, he knew this girl was coming with him whether she told him anything or not. The Dark Lord had given his orders and he would fulfill them, even if he didn't understand them. 

"I'd rather die than tell you anything," she spits out, all traces of fear gone from her blazing brown eyes. She's trapped between two men far bigger than her, trapped in the grasp of a man more like a monster, but she feels no fear. "Even if I knew... I'd never tell you." She pins the man with those eyes of hers and for some reason, Lucius knows what she says is the truth. She would die before she gave up anyone that she loved. Hadn't Draco told him such a thing only a few hours before? 

Lucius smirks again, a chuckle bubbling free from his lips. "It's a shame you were born to a family of worthless blood traitors," he says as he takes a single step closer, gesturing for Greyback to loosen his hold on her. She tumbles back to the ground, though she raises herself up just in time to see the man raising his wand. "Perhaps this will change your mind. Crucio." 

She's never felt anything like this before.

White hot pain threatens to rip her apart, tear her limb from limb. It's like hundreds of needles pricking every inch of her skin, it's like the flame of a candle licking at her fingertips. Laughter surrounds her as she falls face first into the dirt, busting her lip in the fall, the coppery taste of blood slick on her mouth as she fights to keep from screaming. Above her, Lucius is shocked by her ability to remain quiet- though she writhes upon the ground, not a single cry leaves her lips. "I'll ask you again," he's deadly quiet, leaning over her now that the curse has subsided, leaving her there panting and sweating on the ground. She raises her head up to look at him and forces herself back up onto her knees. "Where is Harry Potter?" 

Her only answer is to spit at his feet. 

This time when the curse hits, she's knocked backwards by the sheer force of it. Catching her already bleeding lip between her teeth, she forces herself to keep from crying out. She won't give these assholes the satisfaction. Somewhere in the distance, she can hear her mother and father crying out for her, can hear the whizzing of curses and spells as the fighting continues on around them. The pain is only intensifying, drowning out everything else as a third wave hits. Her last thought is of her parents, of her family, of Harry... She can only hope that they are all safe. That they are well. And then, darkness consumes her. 

"You will wish you weren't so noble, Miss Weasley." Lucius speaks as he reaches down to grab her wrist as her body goes limp. Behind him, the Order members are shouting, bellowing, throwing every curse they can think of in an attempt to reach them before it's too late. Three of his own comrades have been taken out and Greyback vanishes without hesitation. Lucius knows he must go, too. "Enough! Retreat!" He bellows to his remaining Death Eaters and at once, they all vanish with the _pop_ of Apparition. 

A moment before one of the Weasley's curses hit him, he's gone too, with their precious little girl held tightly in his grasp. 

[ x x x ]

When she wakes, she lays on a cold, stone floor.

At once she's snapping up, fear coursing through her veins as she tries to remember where she was, tries to remember what has happened. She jumps to her feet, ignoring the pain her body feels, spinning around in the darkness until her eyes fall upon a door. It's just across the room and she rushes towards it, reaching up to wrap her hands around the bars in the small gap that once had to have held a plane of glass. Now, she's understanding.

She shakes the bars anyways, even though she knows, even though she understands. This cold, stone room is a dungeon and she's locked inside. True fear rushes through her, cold and strong, and she blinks fast, willing herself not to cry. "Let me out!" She shouts through the bars, but no answer will come, that she already knows. She shakes the bars again, as if they will snap, as if that small space would be enough for her to climb through if they did. 

"You're just going to hurt yourself if you do that."

The voice shocks her and she gasps, spinning on the spot to face where it had come from. She squints into the darkness and sure enough, she can make out the shape of a person sitting in the darkest of corners. "W-who's there...?" She calls out, though the voice was recognizable, it's been months since she last heard it. They rise up to their feet and Ginny hears the few, solid steps it takes for him to approach, the slivers of light coming in through the bars on the door enough to illuminate that silvery hair. "Draco Malfoy..." His name is a whisper on her lips, shock replacing her fears, if only for a moment. "I... I don't understand." She stammers, shaking her head as she takes a step back from where he stands. "Why are you in here?" None of this made any sense. Why would Draco Malfoy be locked in a dungeon? And if his father Lucius had put her here, then surely that meant.... No... She shakes her head again, for this must be a trick of some kind. This can't be real. 

"I'm here because I wouldn't come with them to get you." Draco speaks simply, raising his shoulders in a shrug. She's only been in the dungeon for a short time- he's unable to keep track of the time, his watch broke in the scuffle he had with his father. But he knows it hasn't been that long. Draco sees the fear in her eyes and reminds himself that she's younger than he is, that she's not even seventeen yet. He hates his father for what he's done and he hates himself more for not putting a stop to it. For not being stronger. In the light, he can see she's battered- bruising on her face and a split lip, but she's alive, he supposes. He doesn't know what the Dark Lord nor his father has planned for either one of them, but he can't imagine it's going to be good. 

"Get me?" She questions, surprise softening her features and her vocals. "They came for Harry... Didn't they?" Draco shrugs again. Something strange unfurls inside her belly, a strange sense of understanding that she can't explain. But it fades away as fear again returns. "How long have you been in here?" She asks instead, wondering if she even wanted to know the answer. Wondering if she could even trust any answer that he might give. But now that she looks a bit closer at him, she sees the bruising on his face, as if he had been in a fight of some kind. A recent fight. 

"A day or so," Draco replies as he drops back to the floor, one knee up, arm draped over it. There was no sense of comfort there in that dungeon. It takes a moment, but Ginny approaches him where he sits and sits down too, a puddle of golden skirts there on the stone floor. This close, he catches a whiff of her perfume- like the sweetest of flowers. 

"Thank you," she says, surprising him.

"For what?" Draco scoffs, a hint of the boy she knows from school. It brings the smallest of smiles to her face. 

"For not coming with them." 

Draco raises his gray eyes up to meet her brown and for a moment, neither of them speak. But finally he mutters a reply and they fall into conversation- for what else was there to do within a dungeon? There was nothing they could do but wait and talk. 

And so wait they would. 


	2. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny and Draco grow closer in their isolation, while the golden trio seems to only drift further apart.

The mood in the Burrow's kitchen is far from it's usual tone.

It's been two weeks since the wedding night- since the night Ginny was taken- and they are no closer to finding her than they were that first night. Every face in the room is pale, drawn, tired from numerous sleepless nights. They've all spent every moment that they could searching for any sign of Ginny to appear, any sliver of information accepted. First there was a rumor that she was taken to Ireland, that Voldemort had a secret place there somewhere. But that had proven to be a false lead. Then came a rumor of a girl found in a Muggle town with no memory, but that had been a young Muggle girl who's parents had died in the latest skirmish on the Muggle side, her memory altered no doubt by a Death Eater. They've checked everywhere else that they could think of- but in end, every lead has led them absolutely no where.

Molly Weasley quietly serves tea to the stoic room of men and women around her. As she leans over him, she places a gentle hand to Harry's shoulder, a silent reminder that there is no blame for what's happened. No blame on him, that is. All of the blame for the violence and war in this world was Voldemort's and his followers. They all know Harry never would have chosen a life such as this for himself, a life of pain and destruction. He was too good for that. None of them blame him for what's happened so far, nor would they blame him for what surely was yet to come. 

Beside Harry, her youngest son sits, quiet and drawn as he stares into his lap. Ron has spoken very little in the days since the trio's return, though Molly has caught him standing in the center of Ginny's room twice since. Though they often bickered, Molly knows just how close her two youngest children were. And on Harry's other side, with tears almost always in her eyes, Hermione sits. Molly has only birthed one daughter, that is true, but this girl is as good her daughter as Ginny. This girl who has stood beside Harry and Ron since that first year at Hogwarts... These are her children, every last one of them. 

"I suppose I'll follow up in Diagon Alley," Remus sighs as he finally rises up to his feet, the chair creaking the only other sound in the room. At once, Tonks is on her feet as well, clearly quite ready to join him in his search. "Kingston said he would head to Hogwarts." 

Hogwarts. 

Harry had thought quite little of Hogwarts in the last few weeks, though now that he thinks about the date, the school term was set to begin in only a few short weeks. "They wouldn't take her there, would they?" He asks, looking around the room at each face sitting or now standing around the table. "That's almost too obvious, isn't it?" 

"You never read Hogwarts, a History, did you?" Remus asks, eliciting a mix of laughter and crying from Hermione at his side. "Hogwarts has so many places to hide something that needs hidden, even a person, it's true. But even Voldemort cannot defeat the protection spells on the castle left behind by Dumbledore and those before him." Harry thinks on this for a moment and realizes that Remus is right. Besides... Something tells him he's keeping Ginny somewhere close to him. The thought leaves him feeling sick. 

"What can we do?" He asks a moment later and beside him, both Ron and Hermione sit up a bit straighter. 

"Whatever it was Dumbledore wanted you three to do." Remus replies, though he knows the trio won't like it. "We will find her, Harry, Ron, Hermione..." For a moment, his gaze flickers to Molly and Arthur where they sit side by side, pale faced and quiet, the loss of their daughter surely almost too much to bear. "I promise, we will find her." 

And Harry nods, because this is the only thing he can do, even if he wishes it weren't. 

[ x x x ]

Fourteen days.

She's counted them all, one by one, with a single etching into the stone wall. Draco might roll his eyes when she does it, but he himself carved one of the hash marks into the wall on a day she was unable to do so herself.

It was on day two that a Death Eater came for Draco first. 

The sound of them torturing him had been relentless. For what felt like an eternity, she was forced to sit down there on the cold, stone floor, listening to them hurt him. When they brought him back, dumping him at her feet onto the floor, it had been Lucius Malfoy standing there in the doorway. His cold gray eyes had looked upon her, their gaze sharp as steel, a silent reminder that this could have been her. That it would be her. 

And it had been her turn, on that third day. And then the fifth day. And then the sixth, too. 

Day after day, they were taken to room upstairs where the Death Eaters could do as they pleased with them. Never death, it could never be death, but it would always be pain. Soon, even she could not stop herself from crying out in pain. It had only been fourteen days, two weeks, but already Ginny could feel herself slipping away. 

She's sitting against the east wall and Draco sleeps on the floor across the way from her, his breathing the only sound in the room. He was returned from a torture session only a few hours ago and he's been asleep ever since. She sighs, brushing back a stray strand of hair, tilting her head back against the wall she leans against. It's only a matter of time before they come for her, she knows, and she swallows against the fresh wave of fear that rises up within her. Fear, anger, sorrow, even joy... None of those feelings matter anymore. 

Across the way, she hears Draco begin to stir. 

Rising up from where she sits, she crosses the room to instead kneel at his side, carefully sliding her hands beneath him, helping him up into a sitting position. He turns his stormy eyes upon her then and she blinks, a slow smile spreading across her features. He's hyper aware of the warmth of her hand against his back, placed so perfectly between his shoulder blades. "How long have I been out?" He asks when she shifts back, suddenly chilled when she withdraws her hand from where it once sat. 

"A few hours," she replies before she reaches for the plate of crackers left for them that morning. "Here, eat." She commands, handing the plate to him, shaking her head when he opens his mouth to defy her. "No," she says, softer than before, her smile returning. "You need it. Keep up your strength and all." He holds her gaze for several long moments before he nods and takes a bite of one of the crackers. 

It's a few more hours before they both hear it, the steady sound of footsteps in the hall. 

When the door opens, she's already on her feet.

[ x x x ]

September 1st comes and then it goes. Just like that, a month has gone by, and then the days just continue to pass by without any sign of Ginny at all. 

"It's as if she's just disappeared," Harry says for the hundreth time, sitting there beneath the canopy of stars, the darkness of night broken only by the flicker of their campfire. Beside him, Ron stiffens- he still has a hard time talking about Ginny. "She has to be somewhere." He goes on, again, speaking words he's said plenty of times before this moment. Hermione reaches out, gently touching his hand with hers, offering him a small smile. "If we can find another horcrux then maybe..." He's thought of this often, that if only they can continue to destroy the horcruxes, then somehow it will lead them to Ginny. For once in his life, he wishes he could catch a glimpse into Voldemort's mind. But perhaps he's purposely sealed himself off, to keep Ginny's whereabouts truly a secret. 

"Strange though, isn't it?" Hermione asks from her place beside him, reaching out to poke at the burning fire with a stick, setting sparks into the air. "Draco Malfoy hasn't shown up at school, either." They keep up with the reports as best they can, while they travel the countryside in an attempt to find the horcruxes Voldemort has hidden, pieces of his soul that once all destroyed, will render him a mortal man and thus, give them the chance to destroy him once and for all. 

"Who cares? He's probably out doing Death Eater shit." Ron cuts in, his voice sharp. 

"Yes but we've not heard any reports of him participating in their attacks. Don't you think we would have by now?" Hermione goes on, a bit more earnestly now. She isn't certain that there's any correlation between Ginny's kidnapping and his disappearance, but it does strike her as odd all the same. "Besides, he would have come the night of the wedding, don't you think?" 

They've talked about this before- any possible reason why Draco Malfoy would not have involved himself with the battle the night of the wedding. "We've been over that, 'Mione." Ron says somewhat impatiently. "He must have been off doing something else, Merlin only knows what." Hermione sighs but she doesn't press it- the three of them arguing about Draco Malfoy's whereabouts were the last thing they needed to be doing. "Give me the locket," Ron suddenly says, reaching his hand out towards Hermione, who touches the locket that hangs beneath her shirt. This time she does open her mouth to argue, but falls silent when Ron scowls. When the locket hangs around Ron's neck, he too laspses into silence, leaving Harry to wonder if they could make it like this much longer. 

Something tells him they can't and that scares him more than almost anything else. 

[ x x x ]

  
"Hey! You're bleeding!"

Ginny's voice is full of concern, a familiar tone of voice he's begun to associate with her, a voice that gives him hope, even on the darkest of their days. "I'm fine." He says, trying his best to shield his bleeding wound from her, but despite the torture she's endured these last two days, she's persistent. Finally, despite his best efforts, his arm lays gently in her grasp. Hands that once felt warm to the touch now felt cool, surprising him. "It's not so bad," he goes on, waving his other hand in a dismissive sort of way and her only response is a glare that could frighten even the Dark Lord himself. And so he falls silent, it's safer for him that way. 

Instead, he watches as she tears a long strip from her once beautiful golden gown, which has long since been discarded, more like rags now than a dress. Another, larger piece is torn next and she dabs at his wound with it, issuing a soft apology when she sees him flinch. "What happened?" She asks quietly, beginning the process of wrapping the long strip carefully around his injured arm. "It's not from magic," she adds, raising her gaze from his arm to his face, brown eyes surveying gray. The bruising on her face is dark and vivid, but it does not take from her beauty, in truth she wears them like war paint, proof of the battles she's constantly fighting. He wonders how she can stay so strong when most of the time he only wants to give up. 

Draco thinks back to that moment, when that asshole Greyback had hit him with the Cruciatus Curse and in an attempt to get away, he had fallen and managed to cut his arm on a piece of broken desk, left there from Ginny's session the day before. "I fell." He says simply, drawing his arm back from her grasp when she's secured the gold fabric into a knot at his wrist. "You know Muggle first aid?" He asks with a grin, though he supposes he should stop being surprised by this girl. She's proven she's full of surprises during their time in this dungeon together. Draco had always known her to be spirited, strong willed, temperamental some might even say, but being with her in such a way has proven to Draco that there's a whole lot more to Ginny Weasley then most people knew. 

"Yeah, my dad... You know, he loves Muggles, he finds them fascinating. We spent a whole summer learning Muggle first aid, Hermione and Harry must have wished themselves home dozens of times that year." She laughs, surprising more than just Draco- how long has it been since she's last laughed? Glancing at the wall where the sixty something lines etch the wall, she knows it's been too long. "I guess it was worth something after all," her voice is soft and she ducks her head, red hair falling across her face as she closes her eyes to the emotions welling up within her. 

It only takes a moment for her to feel the touch of his hand, warm and steady, against her own. She looks back up and she smiles, she can't help it. "Thanks, Gin," he says and she nods, wondering just when he had adopted the use of the nickname Harry had given her. More than that, she wonders why it feels right. 

[ x x x ]

When Halloween came and went, people were beginning to lose faith.

Harry couldn't blame them, not really, because didn't he himself harbor secret doubt about ever finding Ginny again? Each night he sleeps, he hopes to dream of her, to see her through Voldemort's eyes... If only to see her face, to know she's alive somewhere... He wakes disappointed each morning, for there comes no sight of her, though he swears there are nights where he hears whispers of her name, echoes of her screams... He shakes his head, pushing away the sick feeling that gathers in the pit of his stomach, knowing he has to believe that she's there... Somewhere... He would find her, if it was the last thing he did.

"Harry?" 

It's Hermione's whisper in the darkness, a reminder of what he still has left. He turns on the bunk he sleeps in, facing towards the bunk where she lays, quiet in the night. Ron snores from his own bunk, tired from his hours of wearing the locket. It hangs around Harry's neck now, tucked beneath his shirt; out of sight, but never out of mind. "Yeah?" He whispers back, listening for the quiet shifting of her weight, the slight squeak of the bed springs. 

"I dreamed about her." She's crying softly, burying her face into her pillow as she squeezes her eyes shut, trying her best to recall the sight of her dear friend, smiling radiantly in her dream. "I miss her." 

Harry closes his eyes, tears threatening to spill over. "So do I." 

When he finally drifts off, it's to the soft sound of Hermione sobbing. 

[ x x x ]

The room is spinning.

"Get up girl." 

It's not a request, but a command. She struggles to her knees, unable to even raise her eyes to her attacker before she's hit with a dose of the Cruciatus Curse. No matter how often she's hit, it never ceases to steal the breath from her lungs. It's not real, she tells herself, over and over again. This isn't happening. It's all she can do, it's all she can think, the only thing to try and get herself through the moment. 

"Get up, I said." A fistful of hair yanks her upwards and a shout escapes her dry, cracking lips. When was the last time she had a drink of water? "Tell me where Potter is." The man snarls, a lowly Death Eater that she doesn't even know the name of. Sometimes, this is better for her, sometimes it's worse. Today, it's worse. "I know that you know." He growls, tossing her back to the ground, one swift kick catching her in the gut. The sound that escapes her is anything but human, something torn between a shriek and a gasp, something that will haunt her when she closes her eyes that night. Pain radiates from the place of impact through her entire body, it steals the breath from her lungs. 

Groaning, she rolls onto her other side, curling into herself. Anything might happen in the next moments... She hears the approaching footsteps and squeezes her eyes shut tight, bracing herself for whatever is going to come next. 

_Knock, knock._

The man stops, turning towards the door just as it swings open. "That's enough for today, I think." Lucius sneers from where he stands, looking down at the girl that lays on the floor across the room. "Besides, she has a visitor coming in a few days." Where she lays, Ginny opens her eyes, surprise overtaking the pain. "Take her away." A moment later, the man grabs her by the arms, hauling her up onto her wobbling legs. As they pass by where Lucius stands, he meets her gaze and something cold settles into the pit of her stomach. 

They don't make it down the hall before a door opens, stopping them. "I'll take her," Greyback flashes his mangled, yellowing teeth. The Death Eater shoves her towards him and she stumbles, remaining upright only when the werewolf catches her by the arm. "Come on girly," he tugs her along the corridor, towards the back stairs which will lead them down the stairs and into the dungeons. When they've gone down a single flight of stairs, he's pushed her against the wall, her cheek smashed into the wall, her long red hair tangled in his fingers. "Not such a fighter now, are ya girly?" He chuckles, his tongue tracing along the outline of her jaw, the action sending chills down her spine, her stomach churning. 

Somehow, someway, she finds the strength to push him away from her, wrenching herself from his grasp. "Don't touch me!" She snarls, feeling fierce, but Greyback merely grins, as if he's amused by her outburst. Inside, she is full of fear, she's sick with it, but she holds her head high, hoping that his ears cannot hear the fluttering of her heart. 

Perhaps he decides it isn't worth it, or perhaps he enjoys the game, either way, to her ultimate relief, Greyback gives her a push, forcing her the rest of the way down the stairs. When they reach the dungeon, he opens the door and shoves her inside, slamming the door closed behind her. On her knees from the force of the push, she looks back over her shoulder and sees him staring in through the bars on the door, the look leaving her with that same cold, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

Feigning weariness, she shrugs off Draco's soft touch and curls up into a ball on the cold, stone floor, wishing with all of her heart to be anywhere but there. 

[ x x x ]

It’s snowing. 

Harry stands in the door of their tent, flap parted just enough so he might stare out into the swirling, blinding white. Behind him, the tension within the tent is thick and heavy, uncomfortable. Ron sits at the table, arms folded and a darkness clings to him that worries both Harry and Hermione. Hermione is tucked into her bunk, but Harry is certain she lays awake. He can’t help but wonder if they both resent him for the mess that their lives have become. 

“Shut the tent already, it’s cold.” Ron’s voice breaks into his thoughts and Harry sighs, but he turns and lets the tent flap fall closed behind him. Green eyes meet blue and for a moment, the two hold gazes, but then Ron curls back into himself- a gesture he’s seen in Ginny countless times befores. As always, at the thought of her, his heart aches. 

Wordlessly, Harry climbs into his own bunk and closes his eyes. 


End file.
